ABSTRACT
In the case of an unexpected exposure to radiation in places where there is no access to standard dosimeters, materials that can act as detectors in methods of retrospective dosimetry are looked for. Such materials include, but are not limited to, medicines and dietary supplements that are found in households or in personal bags. This article presents the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetric properties of dietary supplements, the main ingredient of which is a sensitive phosphor - potassium chloride (KCl). Three types of KCl dietary supplements were tested and compared to a selection of four common drugs in terms of their sensitivity. Basic dosimetric properties of dietary supplements such as signal repeatability, dose response and fading were determined. The dose recovery test was performed 2 and 7 days after exposure to radiation. The obtained dose values for the two supplements showed good compliance with the nominal dose values and the possibility of correctly assigning the doses to the levels of triage (low dose 0-1 Gy, medium dose 1-2 Gy and high dose > 2 Gy). The presented results show that dietary supplements with KCl have the potential to be used as emergency detectors in the dose recovery process.
Subject(s)
Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dosimetry , Dietary Supplements , Luminescence , Potassium Chloride , Radiation Dosimeters , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
The aim of the article was to verify the hypothesis concerning the diversification of plutonium sources in the natural environment of Antarctica. Plutonium activity and atom ratios were analyzed in two groups of biological samples: terrestrial and marine. Both isotopic ratios in the terrestrial set were consistent with global radioactive fallout ratios. The average activity ratio in the marine ecosystem was lower than global radioactive fallout. At the same time mass ratio values in this group turned out to be surprisingly varied. Analysis of the results showed statistically significant differences between the marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
